One of our most popular posts is our review of cross stitch pattern software however recently I was asked about kit creation! This isn’t something I’ve ever done before (being so keen on making my own patterns), but it did make me think a little further about why you would want one of these, and how good they were.
 
In my mind, it stood to reason that anyone wanting a custom cross stitch pattern would have to learn how to make one themselves, but that’s not actually the case! If you’re just wanting a pattern you can go to many people on places like Etsy that will make one for you, or use one of the many free cross stitch pattern creators that act as a converter. But if you wanted something truly custom, or you weren’t happy with just a pattern, finding a designer to make a high-quality pattern for you was hard.
And once you had it, you then had to gather all the elements, which if you don’t own all the cross stitch threads might mean getting a skein to only use a tiny amount!
 
And this is where custom kit creation comes in. You get a great designer making a true one-of-a-kind pattern, that can be as custom as you like, and they then put together everything you need and ship it straight to your door!

How Does It Work?

So the first thing we need to talk about is how you go about this.
You contact the person doing the kit (see list and reviews below) and they contact you back. They then ask you questions, supply you with previews and build the pattern to your specifications.
Once you’re happy (and only once you’re happy) you get sent a full kit, including fabric, threads, and needles sent to your door!

Things To Consider

But with a seemingly great process, there are still a few things to consider.

Price

The first one is price. Collecting the price of the items you need yourself will be cheaper; guaranteed. And in addition, you’ll likely have spares that these kits won’t supply too!
But there is something you need to be aware of; how likely are you to want more custom patterns? If you want just one, these kits are great investments! But if you see yourself wanting 5 a year, suddenly these are looking like a very expensive option. A better idea would be to learn to make patterns yourself and save LOTS of money.

Speed

The second thing is speed. Being realistic you can add a pattern to a pattern maker and get a great pattern in less than 30 seconds. You can jump in the car and get some threads and fabric, and you can be stitching in under an hour.
These kits, will without a doubt take longer! After you contact initially, there might be 24 hours before they contact you back, then the pattern gets made of a few days, then they have to make up the kit, then they have to send it (and depending on which country they and you are in, that can take a while!), so before you know it, you can be waiting 6 weeks or more before you start.
It should be noted that many are less than 6 weeks, in fact, only one in our tests took that long, but at the very minimum, you’re talking about 5 days.

Quality

And then finally, we need to talk about quality. There are two types of quality to think about. The first is the kit; does it have good quality threads, aida, and needles? Some do, and some don’t, and you very much get what you pay for. So bear this in mind; maybe it’s better to just get a pattern and kit it up yourself.
And then we have the pattern quality. The biggest thing stopping cross stitchers from making their own patterns is the worry that it will be bad. And I get that fear, believe me, but you have to take a step back and just think about how good the pattern you’re going to get in a kit will be. Will the designer have that much experience? Will they put as much time, love, and care into the pattern as you would, or would they simply fob you off with something sub-par?
We’re not saying anyone is giving out bad patterns; in fact on the whole the tests had some great results, but that doesn’t mean
 
So all in all, you need to tread a fine line between price, speed, and quality being important to you, to make these a viable option.

The Different Options

If you still think a custom kit is for you, what exactly are the options?
 
Just a note on price; it drastically changes depending on size, color count, and complexity, so we can’t be exact, but inputting the same image with the same requirements, we have given an indication below on their comparative value. But these kits can range from $10 to $60.
 

iCustomStitch

When it comes to custom cross stitch kits, iCustomStitch is without a doubt the leader. You simply supply an image (or wording on what you want) and they’ll contact you with size and color recommendations. The pattern itself is well created, with the right amount of confetti stitches, but also simplicity.
The real screamer of a deal here however is the kit itself. The pattern comes printed on a high quality aida, with great quality threads and (get this) gold plated needles!
The only slight negatives we could see was price and speed. For price, it comes in at the higher end, but with the high quality materials, you do get what you pay for. And secondly, speed could be an issue; they advise 3-5 weeks for delivery, but in our experiance, it came in 1 week!
 

Photos2Stitch

A little pricey, Photos2Stitch does do a good job! The kit itself was of fantastic quality, with pre-separated threads, a great quality aida, and all the trimmings (needle, instructions, etc). However, their speed wasn’t great. This isn’t their fault though, the main delay was postage to the US as this is a UK-based service. This also increased the price further, which wasn’t great!
 

CottageNeedleCrafts

This one is slightly different from the rest on the list. Instead of giving you carte blanche on a pattern design, CottageNeedleCrafts only does nameplates. They come in different fonts, and each letter has its own custom elements. But essentially it’s just that. That isn’t to say it’s bad, in fact, if this is the style you’re looking for, it’s great! It’s just limiting.
As for the rest, its a great pattern, good customer service, and great kit quality!
 

SkyeStitching

The best price we have on our test, but with it comes some drawbacks. The first is the time; whilst the pattern was made quickly, the postage from the UK took a loooong time. The second thing was the pattern was filled with confetti stitches and lacked a refinement that other companies had on test. Finally, whilst there was nothing wrong with the customer service (truly, there was nothing bad), it also wasn’t outstanding.
These may seem like small niggles, and we agree, they definitely aren’t deal-breakers (especially for that price!), but it sadly puts SkyeStitching a little lower on our list than we initially thought they’d place.
 

DMC Stitch Your Photo

Probably the best-known of these services is DMC’s own. They offer an interesting service. You can simply make a pattern, and get it for $10, or also buy the threads, which start from $10 (effectively getting the pattern free).
As for the service, it’s all online, with one of three “image options” to choose from (even though they don’t say what these are), and there is no way to preview your pattern beforehand, other than the rather small image it supplies straight away. To compound this, we find that the quality of the pattern is very hit and miss.
But on the positive side, their speed is unparalleled! In one test we uploaded the image and our kit was on its way to us 2 hours later! The kit arrived in 2 days.
The kit itself is good, being DMC after all, but the DMC aida isn’t the best out there, as our previous test showed. It should be noted however that despite being the manufacturer of the threads, DMC often runs out of some colors, meaning you’re sometimes supplied replacement threads.
 

Studio-Koekoek

In a word, “simple”. Whilst Studio Koekoek does some nice patterns, they’re all very simple. Whilst this would be good for a true beginner, for anyone who has stitched a few projects could make these patterns themselves using free online pattern makers or making a pattern on paper.
But, on the flip side, the kits a great quality, and a good price for what you get!
 

 
 
Have you ordered and stitched a custom kit? We’d love to hear your feedback and see what you made of them!
 
Happy stitching!
Lord Libidan